Even if Carbanog Sleeps, the Battle Must Go On

The Archisus Artillery had finished their deployment. It was a truly terrifying lineup. The Archisus Artillery, flanked by massive cannons. Behind them, the Galkard Dwarf tribes deployed a vast array of makeshift light mortars. And to top it off, Gellendel’s elite Elven warriors stood ready, bows drawn and aimed!

'The Bear tribe bastards don't have magic skills anyway. We can take them in a head-on clash.'

The additional frenzy they had shown while fighting the Wolf tribe was a bit intimidating, but with this much firepower, Tae-hyun was confident in a direct confrontation. Besides, the battle was already past its midpoint and rushing toward its climax.

Kwang! Boom! Crash!

The giant beast licked its chops as it looked down at the devastated battlefield. To it, the dozens of fallen Bear and Wolf warriors looked like a delicious buffet.

"Pwoooooo!"

'...That thing is getting seriously scary.'

Tae-hyun cleared his throat and prepared his skill.

It was Archisus's Purification, an incredibly powerful skill capable of removing all types of status ailments.

"Everyone, stop!"

Tae-hyun's voice boomed, cutting through the chaos and striking directly into the minds of the Bear and Wolf warriors.

As the skill hit them dead-on, all frenzy states vanished, and their buffs were wiped clean. The Bear warriors, now fully sane, looked around in utter bewilderment.

With their HP plunged below 20%, suffering from various debuffs, and their numbers severely depleted, it was only natural that even the fiercest warriors would lose their morale. Yet, the Bear tribe warriors growled and glared at Tae-hyun. Their fighting spirit was truly relentless!

"You Archisus bastard! How dare you trap us!" a Bear warrior roared, gnashing his teeth.

Tae-hyun remained silent, having nothing in particular to say.

"To drive us into an extreme frenzy just to drain our strength... How cunning!"

"No, you guys did that to yourselves..."

"If it weren't for those brainless wolves, we would have torn you to shreds!"

"Actually, I did that too."

It seemed the Bear warriors were thoroughly confused about what Tae-hyun had actually done versus what he hadn't.

"What? Archisus?" one of the Wolf warriors gasped in shock.

"Who is Archisus?"

"Which one of you is Archisus? There was someone like that here?"

"Don't talk nonsense, you stupid bears! If Archisus were here, do you think we wouldn't have recognized him?"

"Well, my bad," Tae-hyun said, waving his hand.

"Graaaaaah!"

"Archisus! You treacherous, cowardly, filthy scoundrel!"

"To scam us before we could even cover our ears!!"

The Wolf warriors wailed, utterly devastated by the betrayal. The Bear warriors mocked them.

"That's why you should have kept ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠your ears covered!"

"Shut up! We don't want to hear it from you lot! You couldn't even fight properly..."

"Let's kill that Archisus bastard who deceived us first!"

"Sounds like a plan."

The Wolf and Bear warriors gnashed their teeth, their eyes locked onto Tae-hyun. Even in their battered states, the pressure they exerted was immense, but Tae-hyun didn't even blink.

"You'd better surrender."

"Don't talk nonsense, Archisus! A worm like you wouldn't understand, but we have our honor—"

"Fire."

The moment Tae-hyun's command fell, those on standby unleashed their attacks. Starting with the artillery, a tempest of ranged attacks blanketed the sky and rained down upon the warriors. It was firepower amplified by every imaginable buff! The sheer destructive force defied imagination.

Whoosh—

BOOM! CRASH! BANG!

It was a massive area-of-effect bombardment that literally plowed the already devastated lands of Nodranche!

'I couldn't agree more.'

Such a bombardment was only possible because they were in the middle of a barren, empty wasteland!

The sheer power of the attack, which channeled every available buff into a single, concentrated burst, was easily comparable to a Dragon's Breath.

Swoosh—

As the dust settled, the ground in the targeted area had sunk several meters lower than its surroundings. In the center of the crater, the beastmen warriors stood frozen, their faces pale with sheer terror. Tae-hyun had intentionally aimed the bombardment to narrowly miss them.

"Will you surrender, or will you fight to the bitter end?"

"...We do have our honor, but we suppose we don't necessarily have to keep it today!"

No matter how brave the beastmen warriors were, they couldn't possibly hold out after witnessing an attack like that. It was a blow that vaporized whatever honor they had left! Faced with a bombardment rivaling a Dragon's Breath, the warriors completely lost their will to fight.

After sealing the remaining beastmen near the Frost Core and forcing the final holdouts to surrender, the quest completion window finally popped up. He had somehow pulled it off!

'I only did this because of that idiot Cain... but this quest gave me a lot of returns.'

Most importantly, there was the ancient empire city beneath Nodranche. How incredibly difficult was it to obtain even a single clue related to the Ancient Empire? Players who had invested heavily in archaeology or excavation skills were digging up the earth like madmen, yet records of the Ancient Empire remained incredibly scarce.

And yet, he had just acquired an entire, perfectly preserved ancient empire city... Once the chaos ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from this quest was settled, Nodranche would be able to grow exponentially.

"K-Kim Tae-hyun... The ground over there is completely hollowed out..."

"Hmm."

"You have a plan for this, right? Right? Please tell me you do!"

"It was frozen wasteland anyway, so why not look at the bright side and think of it as a fresh start?"

"...Are you seriously saying that right now?!"

Cain, thoroughly flustered, scanned the surroundings. The once-flat plains were completely devastated, gouged so deeply that the earth's raw underbelly was exposed. He couldn't possibly put his mind at ease.

'This won't cause problems later, will it?'

At that moment, a message window popped up.

"..."

Cain stared at the message window, then slowly turned his gaze to Tae-hyun. Tae-hyun stared right back at him.

"See? It all worked out."

"N-No... What on earth..."

To think that flipping the earth upside down would yield something like this...! Honestly, you didn't even know this would happen!

Tae-hyun began reviewing the newly revealed territory facilities one by one.

'Hot geothermal groundwater means hot springs? Well, they did say Frozeland has volcanoes if you go deeper...'

It was only natural for hot springs to exist near volcanic zones. For a place like Nodranche, such a facility was incredibly beneficial. Not only would it ward off the cold, but it would also allow exhausted players to recover.

'Building a bathhouse or a sauna would be a great choice.'

It seemed like an excellent option. In a freezing place like this, anyone would jump at the chance to soak in a warm bath. As for the abandoned mines, they were undoubtedly mines used during the era of the Ancient Empire. Since the people had vanished, the mines had naturally been shut down.

'I'll summon all the pioneer players, have them clear out the abandoned mines... Hmm, the difficulty should be manageable.'

"Kim Tae-hyun? What are you plotting?"

"Ah. I was just thinking about how to put the pioneer players to work so we can get these buildings constructed efficiently."

Cain couldn't help but marvel at Tae-hyun's words. While he was busy celebrating the levels he had gained from this quest, Tae-hyun was already drawing up plans to exploit others. I really need to learn from him!

'Oh.'

Tae-hyun smiled in satisfaction at the message. He had already planned to head down and leisurely inspect the place anyway, but to be formally invited first was a pleasant surprise!

'Now that the raid is over, I can thoroughly investigate the city.'

"K-Kim Tae-hyun! What happened here?!"

One by one, the pioneer players began emerging from the forest. The quest completion message had popped up for them as well. Despite having done almost nothing, they had miraculously leveled up two or three times! Naturally, their faces were a mix of bewilderment and pure joy.

"Is the quest really over?"

"Yeah. It's done."

"We really wanted to help...!"

"We had to defend the fortress from the inside, so we couldn't leave!"

The pioneer players lied through their teeth the moment they heard the quest was completed! Tae-hyun hadn't called them because they weren't needed, but even if he had, they would have dragged their feet as much as possible. Knowing this all too well, Cain grumbled.

"Ugh, those bastards. They did nothing but hide inside, and now they're reaping the rewards."

Of course, the experience they received was vastly different from those who actually fought, but even this free handout was enough to make them look incredibly obnoxious.

"Kim Tae-hyun! We're so sorry! We really should have helped!"

"Don't worry about it. You can start helping right now."

"?"

"Alright. Head down there, level ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the ground, and clean up the area."

"???"

The pioneer players stared at him, utterly confused. Only then did they notice the gargantuan crater gouged into the earth.

"What on earth is that...?"

"Pwoooooo!"

The roar of the giant beast made the pioneer players jump out of their skins. That thing is still alive?!

"What? You're hungry?" Tae-hyun spoke in a gentle, affectionate tone. "Don't worry. If anyone slacks off, I'll feed them to you."

Everyone was deeply moved by his words.

"...Wow! I'd better work my absolute hardest!"

"I-I'm going first!"

Sincerity truly had a way of reaching people. The lazy pioneer players suddenly had fire in their eyes as they rushed forward. Tae-hyun nodded in satisfaction. Seeing people work so diligently was always a beautiful sight!

"The quest is over, so why do we have to do this? Can't we just leave?"

"If you're confident you can get past all those NPCs, go ahead and run. Hey, I was wondering why those NPCs were here... Did Kim Tae-hyun bring them to crush us if we didn't cooperate?"

"Those terrifying monsters? He brought them by force?"

"How else would he have wiped out the raid? And look at the surrounding area. The ground here has literally sunk. You know those terrifying cannons Kim Tae-hyun always drags around."

"Gasp..."

The quick-witted players shut their mouths. Did he really win through sheer force?! No matter how they looked at it, that was the only logical explanation. Yet, it was still hard to believe. No matter how incredible Tae-hyun was, to defeat those powerful warriors in a head-on clash!

'Is that guy even human?'

'Did he upload a video? I'm dying to know how he fought.'

'Did he really not need our help? Man, he should've called us.'

'As if you would've actually helped. Shouldn't we run? I didn't make any oath, so I should be fine...'

'Are your eyes just for decoration? Stop talking nonsense and grab a shovel.'

With the Archisus Artillery, the Dwarves, and the Elves surrounding them like a wall of sentries, the pioneer players didn't dare to rebel. They couldn't even mess with Tae-hyun when he was alone, but now that he had an entire army backing him...

"Then let's head down to the ancient empire city. They'll handle the groundwork while we're gone."

The pioneer players were swinging their shovels and pickaxes with terrifying intensity, leveling the underground earth. It was a reassuring sight! Watching them, Cain's fingers twitched unconsciously.

"What's wrong?"

"O-Oh, nothing."

"Don't tell me you want to join them? If you do, go ahead. Do what makes you happy."

"N-No way! Why would I be interested in shoveling?!"

Cain vehemently denied it, but his heart fluttered strangely.

'Ah, what is wrong with me? Just watching them shovel makes me want to go over there and give them pointers.'

If he could, he would have snatched their shovels and pickaxes and shouted, This is how you do it!

"You look like you really want to do it..." Tae-hyun said, casting a suspicious look at him.